Lemon Posset with Thyme Crumble

Sometimes an email pops in your inbox and gives you a big smile. When this one arrived, well I was grinning from ear to ear. I was absolutely delighted to be asked to style up some products by a small company I much admire, the quirky and essentially British, Thornback and Peel. Their eccentric designs, most themed around nature, have graced the likes of deckchairs, lampshades and cushions. I've been a long time fan of the jelly mould and pigeon design (why team these together? Ha! It's genius!). This year they have released a gorgeous collection of Christmas items with a fun twist on the classic imagery of the festive season. I absolutely adore the Stag and Mistletoe range and I think the Christmas cards are just fantastic, especially the partridge on a pear and the sprout stalk ones. Top of my wishlist is one of their iPhone covers and I think the sardines in a tin design is brilliant. Perfect gifts with a bit of mischief yet completely useful. (If you check out the bottom of this post you'll find there is a lovely little discount for Thornback and Peel to use too!).

Anyhoo, I was very kindly asked to style up a festive table using a few items from the Christmas range. I selected an apron with the stag and mistletoe design, a sheet of robin and holly gift wrap which I used to wrap two small gifts and added some cinnamon sticks, orange slices and fresh rosemary from the garden as a little embellishment. And on the table, two cotton napkins with the pheasant and oak print. Teaming my selection of items with some beautiful evergreen foliage and natural decorations, I thought it would be nice to include a dessert which is ideal for parties or just as a little treat on a winter's evening. So wearing my stag and mistletoe apron, I cooked up these seriously delicious lemon possets with thyme crumble.

Ingredients:

600ml double cream

150g granulated sugar

Juice and zest of two lemons

for the crumble:

40g porridge oats

20g demerara sugar

pinch of salt

20g unsalted butter, chopped into small pieces

2 sprigs of thyme (leaves to be taken off)

Method:

In a saucepan, pop the cream and granulated sugar together and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.

Then bring to the boil and whisk in the lemon zest and lemon juice.

Allow to cool. Then strain in a sieve and pour into small glasses. Chill in the fridge until set.

For the crumble:

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C.

LIne a baking tray with baking parchment

In a bowl, mix the porridge oats, demerara sugar, salt and the butter then spread out onto the prepared baking tray

Cook for ten minutes, then remove, crumble with your fingers (watch out though it's hot!)